I'm With You
by Sapphira2
Summary: “He had touched her with a startling intimacy that she had never expected… But since then had strangely begun to crave.” Based on Jane's thoughts on the events of the Pilot, including the ending... Part One of "Reflections" Series


"I'm With You" 

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Part One of the "Reflections" Series 

**Short Story based on the WB TV Series "Tarzan"**

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**Disclaimer: Don't own any of it… not the characters, the series, or the music… I am making no profit off of this, or ANY of my other fanfics… I'm writing it purely for my own enjoyment, and hopefully for the enjoyment of some of the fellow fans.**

**Distribution: If you want it, you can have it… just drop me a line and tell me where it is going… ;)**

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**Author's Note – **This was an idea of mine that I had had from the moment I finished watching the Pilot, and realized that I had a new favorite show… Then after watching how the second episode ended, I realized that there was the startling potential of having yet another series demanding precedence in my life. What can I say? I have no life…

The "Reflections" series will be comprised of individual stories… And right now, the **_general_** idea will be that I'll try to bring at least one story out after each episode… It will be based on primarily Jane's (but other characters' will be coming up as well) reflections and thoughts on the happenings of that particular episode… And, like this one, will probably even contain some of the scenes from the show… whether in flashbacks, or as an actual part of the story…

For example, this piece covers what Jane's thoughts were after leaving the warehouse and going home, believing that John (Tarzan) had been killed, from taking her shower, and then finding Tarzan alive and well (if a little singed) standing in her bedroom… and on till the end when he leaves suddenly as Nikki unknowingly interrupts them… So naturally this contains quite a few spoilers of the pilot's ending, as will all the stories… but I don't think there is actually going to be a fear of actually spoiling anything major, as each story will be posted no earlier then a few days after the **_following_** weekend's episode ends…  thus allowing me to make sure that my stories fit in seamlessly between each ep. and with what is happening overall in the actual TV series.

I intend these stories to be as genuine a companion piece to the actual series as possible… And although it IS what I will be referring to a series, each short story will be posted separately, as they are indeed, stand-alone pieces. You don't HAVE to read them all, but I do hope that you will.

Also, one of the trends I will be following closely if at all possible, will be to use the actual songs played during such scenes that inspire each story of each fic, in order to promote the genuine feel of the episode that each story will be based on. I'll try to accomplish this also, by naming each respective fic with the title of that particular song. This won't be done with all the stories, but if there is a scene that I choose to elaborate on, and if it has a connecting theme, then I'll include it. I will say that the music they are choosing to represent the relationship between Jane and Tarzan is ingenious and heart-touching… and I know that these are going to be songs that I'm never going to think of in the same light again…

…Such as the incredible song for the scene behind the inspiration for this story… Currently, I am truly thinking of this one as THE love theme for the show. If you have it, then I highly suggest popping it in and putting it on repeat till you finish this story! I don't believe they could have chosen a better song, for the lyrics truly represent the emotions of that first episode. I hope that you agree, and that you will further enjoy this new little venture of mine… I also hope that you will let me know what you think, and whether or not I need to pursue this little project that I've created any further…

Without further ado… I present Part One of the "Reflections" series… 

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"Welcome to My World… And Watch Your Step…"

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Summary –  "He had touched her with a startling intimacy that she had never expected… But since then had strangely begun to crave." ~ Based Jane's thoughts on the events of the Pilot, including the ending of the episode… Part One of "Reflections" series ~

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**_"I'm With You"_**

**__**

The events following the explosion at the warehouse went by in a mind-numbing blur for Jane, as she all too suddenly found herself back up at her apartment. Standing alone outside her door, after brushing aside the offers of assistance from her fellow officer escorts. Both reluctantly under the influence of assuring words from her that she could walk just fine on her own, thank you. She wasn't injured beyond what a long hot shower and a full night of sleep wouldn't cure. She was a cop. She had been trained to deal with stuff like this. She wasn't going to shatter into a million pieces.

It just felt like she would… But not for the reasons that the rest of them would have thought.

Fumbling for her key, she carefully slid it into the lock and turned. Hearing the internal click signaling its release. Desperately attempting to remain as quiet as possible, she slipped inside and shut the door behind her silently. It was dark in her apartment, but the constant glow from the city beyond its windows provided her with more than enough light to see by. 

Peeling the heavy warmth of the borrowed jacket off of her bared shoulders, she let it fall unceremoniously onto the edge of the couch. She then proceeded to quickly slip out of her ruined heels to keep the sound of them from snapping against the hard wood floor and waking up Nikki. She knew she wouldn't be able to properly deal just yet with any of her younger sister's inevitable inquiries about what had happened tonight, or why she was arriving at home so late… or just why in the world her rather expensive formal outfit was currently beyond repair. She couldn't be confronted with all of those questions without letting go of all of the emotions that she was currently trying her best to contain. Without instinctively needing to unload all that had happened tonight onto another's shoulders, and hopefully alleviate the pressure on hers. If only for a little while.

But whether it made sense or not, she just couldn't handle the idea of anyone seeing her like that... Not even someone of her own blood.

Words couldn't describe how exhausted she was as she padded gently into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. It was a feeling that went all the way down underneath her skin to her very soul. A sensation that went far beyond just the physical desire for sleep.

This went all the way to her mind… and to her heart.

And it was that rare combination of emotions that she had never expected herself capable of feeling. Much less for the one she was feeling it for. It didn't make any sense.

Dropping the heels to the floor at the foot of her bed, she slowly began to automatically peel her clothes off. Wincing and biting her lip hard to keep from groaning out loud when bruised and stiff muscles in her shoulders, hips, and back were forced to move against their will. Getting thrown into a few walls, counters, and then having a bookcase fall on you tended to have that unfortunate affect.

Once she had managed to divest herself of the fine quality silk pants and feminine sequined top ruined by the smell of sweat and smoke, she bundled it all up without even so much as a glance at the mingling fabrics, and threw it unceremoniously into the small trash can sitting by her dresser. It was quickly followed by the matching and also thoroughly destroyed heels. Never wanting to see them again.

From there she headed numbly into her private bathroom. Feeling oddly as if she were making her way through quicksand. Placing her pistol on her small table by the door as she went through, and not even bothering to shut it behind her.

Turning on the water as high as it would go, she adjusted the temperature. She stood there waiting, with her tender palm under the biting spray so her mind would have something else to focus on so it wouldn't be forced to think just yet. Waiting for the water to heat to just this side of pain before robotically divesting her body of the undergarments still gracing her lithe form and then stepping in. Pulling the shower curtain closed around her with nerveless and chilled fingers.

It was then, as she watched the faint grey-tinged water swirling down the drain at her feet, as the residual ash was washed from her pale skin and auburn hair, that she felt something inside of her finally begin to crack as the heat from the water began to warm something within her that would have probably better off frozen.

Memories suddenly came flooding back in an outpouring of dizzying images and heart-rending sounds and emotions. All having started the night that she and Sam were investigating yet another case of what they **_thought_** was a pack of wild dogs tearing up the local supermarkets. How in the world could that case have metamorphosed into what it had? One minute she had been pursuing what she had thought was… well… she hadn't known what to think at the time, everything had happened so fast… Running up stairwells and racing across rooftops… Not exactly how she had pictured spending her evening.

And then she had miscalculated her jump by mere inches, and paid for it with the knowledge that she was about to fall to her death. 

Slipping, hands unable to hold onto that ledge and fighting the darkness trying to swarm up and claim her from the impact to her head, her fingers had given out… she had nothing left to hold onto… Until someone with a pair of eyes the color of watered-down sapphires, that were every bit as surprised as hers, had caught her wrist in mid-fall with his almost inhuman strength and had not let her go.

And he still hadn't… Not completely. He had touched her with a startling intimacy that she had never expected… But since then had strangely begun to crave.

Events that had happened over the last few days had been frightening and exhilarating all at the same time. Things that had made no absolutely no sense… But then, maybe they weren't supposed to.

But in the end, what had it been worth? Now the man responsible for it all was dead. And he had died because of her. Because he had traded his life for hers in an attempt to protect her.

She had expected many outcomes to the past few days, but not this. Never this. After everything he had already endured, it had seemed impossible that he would die so suddenly. So coldly. One minute he had been at her side, overpowering her yet again with the rush of feelings that she had learned to connect to his presence… the next he was gone in an thunderous explosion of burning inferno and blinding light. 

And she was left with the memory of someone that she never should have had feelings for in this short a span of time. Someone who had overwhelmed her with his passion and innocence, brutality and gentleness. Someone that had touched a part of her that she hadn't even known existed, and furthermore, hadn't known another human being could reach.

And now he was gone. And that exact same place inside of her that had risen to the invitation in his eyes that she had seen that very first night which had started all of this, but would now never gaze into again, felt like it had died right along with him.

And she knew she would never get it back. It was something that had linked her to him, and when that explosion had gone off with him at the center of it… she had felt it being so callously severed. Lost in the swirling flames and accompanying black smoke. Leaving her alone to be haunted by someone who never should have had such a startling claim on her soul to begin with.

Pressing her palms against the moist tiles in front of her, she dropped her head and let the water beat down upon the loosening muscles in her shoulders and back. The sound of it rushing over her head, drowning out the rest of the world as she wondered idly if all the various droplets of water beading on the sides of her face and pooling in the hollow of her throat were strictly from the water pouring down around her… or if it had had a little help.

She stood like that for a long time. Not moving a muscle as she stared into the vortex of the drain. Now swallowing up water that was free from any tainted remnants of that night. Whether real or imagined.

After awhile though, she was forced to finally move. Forced to turn the water off before it turned to ice with the lack of hot water to balance its flow, and forced to reach for a towel to absorb the worst of the moisture off of her naked skin and soaked hair.

Tossing that aside, she then reached for her robe. Quickly slipping it into place about her, before stepping out of the shower. Fastening the belt as she went.

She couldn't fix what had had happened tonight. She couldn't make John just magically reappear, despite how much she wished she could. She couldn't bring that piece of her soul back to life, and she couldn't let anyone guess at the depth of what she had experienced. Call it a survival instinct… call it foolishness… Call it denial. But she had to find some way to forget him, and in the process keep herself from being claimed any further by this insanity. She had a life. She had her sister who she adored, and a job she had fought tooth and nail to have at such a young age. 

And she had an incredible man in her life that she **_did_** love and had for a long time now, that had just asked her to marry him. And he deserved the appropriate answer. And she was going to have to give it to him as soon as possible. He deserved at least that much.

Which meant getting her mind off of what could never have been even if John **_hadn't_** died, and get it focused back on all that she had always believed mattered to her in this world. And forget the way that John had looked at her… touched her. Hunted her… Protected her. She had to forget it **_all…_** or risk losing everything else.

You just didn't fall for someone this intensely that you didn't even know, in that short a span of time… and you certainly didn't mourn for him like you felt an integral part of the very fabric of your existence had just been so cruelly denied. It just wasn't possible.

These were all very simple things for her mind to understand, and even to agree to… she just wished that her heart, which currently felt like it had been shattered so thoroughly, could do the same. And it was because of that, that she couldn't dwell on it any further. She was seeking answers to riddles that she would never be granted… And maybe it was better that way. Safer. Less painful.

Stepping in front of the mirror, she shoved her heavy mass of wet hair back from her face and braced her hands against the sink. Studying her clear-eyed reflection. Noting the slightly lost expression that graced it. 

Suddenly, a sound came from her room that sent her turning towards the door. Eyes becoming alert and focused as thoughts scattered. Tension returning to her body as she carefully stepped noiselessly over to the wall, and flipped off the light with a gentle resounding click. Slipping back into the same cop mode that she had been rigorously trained to possess. 

She didn't know what was out there, or if there was, indeed, anyone out there at all… But she had had too rough of a night, and had gotten knocked around by the bad guy a lot more than she would have preferred, to not be a little… edgy. Especially when she was feeling a little on the vulnerable side after everything that she had just endured.

One thing was for sure, though… If Nikki was the one responsible for making the sound that Jane had just heard, then Jane was going to have one heck of a time trying to coax forgiveness out of her younger sister for forcing her to come face to face with the barrel of Jane's gun, pointed directly at her defenseless chest.

But considering the possible alternative of an intruder, it was an acceptable risk. Her sister's psyche just wasn't as important to Jane as both of their physical safety.

Quickly palming it, she had her gun up and pointed as she slowly crept along the wall, past her closet, till she almost reached the corner.

She could see that her window was open. She could feel the frigid edge of the chilled breeze that came pouring through it and into her room. See the sheer curtains it sent dancing. Maybe the wind had just somehow or other blown the glass panels open, because she surely didn't see any possibility of anyone having managed to climb through them… she was half a dozen stories up, and there were no immediate stairwells located in the general vicinity of her bedroom. The loud thump she had heard could very easily have been something in her room that had been blown over from the breeze. But she chose to be cautious regardless. You didn't survive long as a cop in New York City without being a little on the paranoid side, and she had already had more than her fair share of close calls this night.

Heart pounding heavily in her chest from the almost addicting rush of adrenaline, and breath catching in her throat as she came right to the corner, she counted to three in her head, and turned. Bare feet braced apart for leverage as she faced into her room and towards whatever it was that had made that sound. Gun in her hand steady and level with her own chest, as her eyes immediately were drawn to one location.

She had expected to see many things. A broken lamp, her noisy sister… possibly even an ex-circus performer turned burglar… but not this, not him. She hadn't dared to let herself believe that he just might have survived something as impossible to live through as that explosion had been. 

Maybe that had been her mistake.

Feeling as if she had just been violently struck, the breath escaped from her lungs in a rush past her parted lips, as her dark eyes widened under the impact of actually physically seeing him standing just a few steps away from her. The muscles in her legs suddenly weak as certain emotions rushed out, as others flooded in unforgiving. Leaving her feeling as if she had just been tossed out and submerged into the dark embrace of a tumultuous ocean, followed closely by a life-line that could either safe her, or drag her even farther into the depths of a dangerously seductive undercurrent. 

Unable to take her gaze away from his strangely tormented one, relief couldn't even begin to describe what she felt at that moment. It shook her to her core, and reminded her of what it was that she had always felt every time that she had found herself in his presence. Every time he had ever come to her. 

It was one thing to think of him… to remember what it was like to see him. To possess the memory of the eroticism in his touch, the silk of his hair, or the beauty of his eyes. It was quite another to experience the real thing, and it never failed to make her forget everything else in the world that surrounded them. Making her believe, if only for the briefest of moments, that they really could be the only two people in the entire universe, and it had, indeed, just stilled its ever-constant flow of time to personally witness the effect that they held over one another. 

Another way of comparing it, was like coming face to face with one of nature's wonders again after having not seen it for a while, or possibly only through pictures. Like the beauty of the ocean, the vibrancy of a mountain range, or the glory of the constellations. The memory just wasn't strong enough to capture the real thing… and it was only when you were able to behold it again, that you would remember what you hadn't even realizes you'd forgotten… Oh… so **_this_** is what it's like.

And that is what she felt when she saw him looking back at her. Some compelling emotion glittering brightly in those revealing eyes that couldn't be defined as just one or another, but some strange combination of many that set off a chord unexpectedly within her now racing heart and a lump swelling in the back of her throat. 

"Oh, my God," She breathed out in relief, lips curving inexplicably upwards. A fine tremor racing up the slender line of her spine. Her aim wavered, and then started to drop. "You're alright." These were not words that she had ever expected to say to him after what she had seen, and the fact that he had survived against such odds struck her nothing short of a miracle. A beautiful, wonderful, frightening miracle. 

He smiled gently back at her. Breath rushing from his own lungs in also some sense of relief that he seemed to garner from her presence. Something told her that she hadn't been the only one to fear for his life that night. Judging by the condition of his clothes and the marks she could see on his body through the various shredded sections of the fabric, he probably realized all too well how close he had come to losing his life in that explosion.

And then she was moving. Fighting the desire to laugh out loud at the unexpected rush of emotions that were swarming inexplicably through her at the knowledge that he was very much alive. She carelessly tossed the pistol aside to land haphazardly on her bed as she rushed over to him. Coming to a stop, just mere inches away from him as she drank in his overall appearance and restrained herself from flinging herself into his arms as was her instinctive response to want to do so.

Hands reaching up as if to cradle the sides of his face, she noticed the cuts and bruises that graced it, and the slight trembling that ran the length of her fingers as they fluttered so closely over his soot-tinged skin, and instead opted to drop them down instead to rest on the neutral territory of the singed and torn cloth that covered his upper arms. Truth be told it had probably been a mistake to touch him at all. He had a way of sucking her further and further into his life, and that ability only intensified with the more intimacies that they shared with one another. 

But she had to touch him. Had to reassure herself that he was real, and not some bittersweet mirage that her exhausted, aching mind had cruelly concocted without her consent. 

But he was real, even though it was hard for her to believe, as her gaze traced the stunning lines of his face, that particular color of his so very expressive eyes… the shape of his mouth… He had survived, and he had come back to her. Hunting her in the way that he had told her he could. Somehow or another tracking her almost half-way across the city in the dark of night that was currently balancing on the fine line of about to blend into dawn.

She didn't want to even try to understand the unsettling and varying emotions **_that_** invoked within her. There was only so much that she could absorb at one time.

But with the reassurance of his presence in front of her, rose that startling protectiveness… Something that she had been feeling towards him ever since she had seen Richard Clayton's personal SWAT team shoot him down and carry him off so callously from that infamous rooftop. It was what had gotten her so neck deep in what she was in now. It was drawn heavily from the need to protect him from having to endure something that cruel again. No human being deserved to be treated like that. Especially one like him. If his uncle was foolish enough to believe that he would win his nephew's trust by continuously shooting him with anything from simplistic lead bullets to sophisticated tranquilizers, trussing him up and locking him within one hell after another like he was some sort of animal under the guise of rehabilitation, then maybe he wasn't quite as smart as the rest of the world made him out to be. 

But he was sure damn smart enough to figure out that John hadn't died in that fire. Richard Clayton didn't strike her as the type to give up easily. Especially once his own private team was able to confirm that there were no traces of John whatsoever in the remnants of that explosion. Then… he would come looking for him.

And she had a bad feeling that the first place he would come to, would be to her.

But maybe she could outsmart him in the end. Maybe, just maybe… she could give John back his freedom in what could be called ' hiding in plain sight'… by taking him back to his home. A place that had obviously been much more kinder to him than this one.

Strange how what was considered to be the 'civilized' world, had turned out to be the one that she was more frightened would destroy – if not kill – him in the end, rather than the jungle he had come from… A place that, as of a few days ago, she never would have believed a full-grown man could have survived in for almost twenty years alone. Much less an innocent six year old boy.

 "You can't stay in the city. I'm going to get you back home." she didn't know just yet how she was going to accomplish such a feat, but in the end, it was the only thing she could think of to do.

So she was a little taken aback by John's immediate refusal of her offer, and the look in his eyes when he made it.

"No."

"But everyone thinks you're dead. Now's our only chance to – "

He didn't let her finish. "No. I don't belong there."

Jane stilled. Eyes never leaving his face. "What do you mean?"

After everything that he had been through, after everything that he had experienced, and the betrayals that he had been subjected to, she would have thought he would have wanted to go back to the place he had called home almost his entire life. A place that was still so obviously a part of who he was now, and who he would forever be. Now, he was hinting at wanting something else entirely, and she thought she had a pretty good idea as to what that was.

He stepped closer. Close enough that she could feel the protective heat from his body brushing against hers. Helping to combat the chill she was now receiving from standing in front of an open window that was letting the invading cold wind of the night into her unprotected room. 

His very soul was shining there in those azure eyes. No barriers. No secrets. She couldn't look away from the beauty in that. The honesty. All of what he was feeling was bared for her to see in an emotional torrent of revelations… and she couldn't help but respond to it.

And just like that, it was back. That strange link that tied her soul so intimately to his was reestablished. A strong shining stretch of filament that was drawing her irrevocably closer and closer to a man that she knew so little about… but yet felt as if she had been waiting for her entire life.

And what made it so poignant was that she knew that everything she was feeling at that moment, he was feeling as well. It was glittering there with such promise and certainty in that haunting gaze…

"I belong with you."

And it was with those words of declaration, that she found herself falling helplessly into everything that he represented… Much in the same way she always did when he came to her with such promises in those blue depths.

Later she would reprimand herself for it. Later she would guiltily remind herself of Michael's presence in her life. Later she would probably even fear this power that John… Tarzan… whatever the heck his name was, seemed to have over her, the complications that this presented to her ordered life, and tell herself that there was no way that she could allow it to go any farther from this point on. But for now… now she couldn't find it in herself to resist it. Resist **_him._**

Or herself.

**_//…I'm standing on the bridge…// _**

He leaned into her. Dropping his head down to hers almost as if he was about to kiss her, only to gently veer off course at the last moment. The side of his face rubbing ever so slightly against her cheek and jaw-line as he nuzzled against her skin with the barest of touches.

**_//…I'm waiting in the dark…//_**

Her pulse leapt, and a startling heat began to spread through her veins like liquid fire at the strangely blatant yet beautifully sensual caress. 

She wasn't a child. Wasn't unfamiliar with desire and the resulting effects. She had been with men before, and had been sharing an intimate relationship for Michael now for a while, which was why she found it so disconcerting that someone she didn't even know, not really, could do this to her. Play havoc on her body's responses and her mind's emotions… when he had only just barely begun to touch her.  

**_//…I thought that you'd be here, by now…//_**

Lips parting on a pent up breath, she closed her eyes. Head falling back and strands of her dampened hair sliding away from her temples, as he gently pressed into the silken curve of the side of her revealed throat. Running over the line of her shoulder and then back again. Raising chills along her nape as her hands unwittingly came up to cradle the sides of his face. Feeling the slight abrasiveness of his warm skin under her sensitive fingertips, as she held him to her. Her form curving instinctively into his larger one, until she was almost flush up against the line of his body, and his hands came up to her arms. Holding her ever so carefully as the heat from his body enveloped hers.

**_//…There's nothing but the rain… No footsteps on the ground…//_**

It was an eroticism that defied all boundaries. She was lost in the sensation of him, and she didn't care to be found anytime soon. Senses awakened and flared with desire. He smelled of smoke and ash and the damp musk of the city. But there was something else there as well… Something that reminded her of humid days and star-studded nights... Of the wildness of an untamed and dangerous world that she had never experienced and most likely never would, and the feral existence of the deadly animals within it. It clung tenaciously like the echoes of determined phantoms to his skin, wrapped up not only in his own personal scent, but also in everything that he was. An imprint of the frightening paradise that he had been taken from, but yet would always remain a part of.

**_//…I'm listening, but there's no sound…//_**__

Distantly, some part of her mind registered the faint clicking sound behind her, as her doorknob began to turn, but it wasn't until she felt him go completely still under her hands, and the tension racing down his body that had continued to press lightly into hers, that she began to pull herself out of her trance-like state, at the same time that he pulled away at lightening speed. Already at the open window before her fingertips had barely left the sides of his face.  

She turned as well, head whipping around towards the now opening door, heart thudding painfully in her chest, as she instinctively feared whoever it was that was coming in who would most assuredly see John standing there, alive and well, in the middle of her bedroom floor.

The door swung open, as a sleepy-eyed Nikki peered in curiously. "Jane, you okay?" she asked in concern. Voice slightly hoarse from having just been awakened. Trying to blink away the cloudiness covering her dark brown eyes as she stood there with her hand resting on the door. 

"I'm…" Jane started. Already running through a list of various reasons she could use to explain John's presence to her sister, but she trailed off. Noticing that her sister didn't seemed to bothered by anything, other than a genuine concern to make sure everything was okay, after having probably been awakened by the sound of John's entrance into Jane's room. 

**_//…Isn't anyone trying to find me…?//_**

Turning back in the direction that John had darted towards, all she saw was empty space beyond her open window. The chilling wind once again stirring the sheer curtains draped around it.

Eyes widening in surprise at the idea that he could have gotten away **_that_** fast, she rushed over to the window. Temporarily forgetting that her sister was still standing there, waiting for her to answer. Bracing her palms on the sill, she leaned out, and looked around. Trying to catch some sight of him as he disappeared as effectively as he had arrived.

But of course she didn't. He was already long gone. Although she really shouldn't have found that at all surprising. She had seen first hand how adept the jungle had made him at slipping away faster than any other could keep up.

**_//…Won't somebody come take me home…?//_**__

Turning her gaze in front of her, she looked out over the lights of the city. A city were John was now loose and on the run. Trapped in a completely different jungle then the one he had grown up in. Unfamiliar with its rules or how to even survive in it. Confused by what he was seeing around him, and vulnerable to whatever his uncle would start to throw at him next.

**_//…It's a damn cold night…//_**

And here she was, caught in the middle of it all. Having no idea what her next move was going to be, or what was going to happen to her world once dawn broke

**_//…Trying to figure out this life…//_**

Letting out a sigh as her fingers clenched reflexively on the sill, she closed her eyes. Feeling the cold air blowing against her pale features as she stood there. Still reeling from the bombardment of emotions and sensations that she had experienced in the last few moments.

"Jane? What's wrong?"

Jane heard her sister take a couple of steps into her room, and she turned. Leaning her lower back up against the window's ledge for support as she faced her sister. Fingers still clutching at the sill. Knuckles white from the strain.

"Everything's okay. Go back to bed." She tried to smile in reassurance, but she knew by Nikki's expression that it had come across looking about as forced as it had felt. 

"You sure?"

Jane nodded. "Yeah. Everything's fine... Good night."

Nikki stood there for a moment. Confusion apparent as well as the desire to prod further. But she finally nodded and slipped back out. Closing the door behind her quietly.

Jane waited till she heard her sister re-enter her own room, before she turned back to the window. Wrapping her arms around her stomach and pulling her robe even tighter against her body. Mind going numb as she sat down at the opening and looked out over the barren rooftops. Eyes instinctively searching out the shadows, even though she knew she would find nothing there.

**_//…Won't you take me by the hand…Take me somewhere new…//_**

She sat there for what felt like an eternity. Just listening to the sounds of the city, as the breeze continued to kick up around her. With each caress against her skin becoming an aching reminder of his touch, and each resulting memory one more piece in a haunting mosaic of the past few days. 

And the fact that, whether she was willing to admit it or not, that out there somewhere in the vastness of this deceptive city, was a man running both from his past, and towards an undisclosed destiny that neither one of them knew where it would lead… 

**_//…I don't know who you are, but I…//_**

And that somewhere in the midst of all of this, a piece of her soul had taken flight right alongside him. Caught within his possession for all time like the ageless sands through an hourglass. Tied to whatever future was about to befall him.

And it brought to her the sudden unquestionable knowledge, that no matter what she had to do, she would endure whatever she had to… to protect him when it did. **__**

**_//…I'm with you… I'm with you...//_**

****

**_//…I'm looking for a place… I'm searching for a face… Is anybody here I know…?//_**

**_//…Cause nothing's going right, and everything's a mess… And no one wants to be alone…//_**

**_//…Isn't anyone trying to find me…? Won't somebody come take me home…?//_**

**_//…It's a damn cold night… Trying to figure out this life… Won't you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new…?//_**

**_//…I don't know who you are, but I…I'm with you…I'm with you…//_**

**_//…Oh, why is everything so confusing…?//_**

**_//…Maybe I'm just out of my mind…//_**

**_//…It's a damn cold night… Trying to figure out this life… Won't you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new…?//_**

**_//…I don't know who you are, but I…I'm with you…! I'm with you…!//_**

**_//…Take me by the hand, take me somewhere new… I don't know who you are, but I…//_**

**_//I'm with you…! I'm with you…!//_**

**_//…Take me by the hand, take me somewhere new… I don't know who you are, but I…//_**

****

**_//I'm with you… I'm with you…//_**

****

**_//…I'm with you...//_**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

So what did you think? Did I portray Jane well enough? Little nervous about this one, so hopefully you'll take the time to review and let me know what you think… I should be getting out the second story in a couple more days… 

~*~*~*~*~


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